USA: New renewable capacity 1,460 times more than new coal capacity

Renewable energy sources have accounted for more than 60 per cent of the more than 7,000MW of new electricity generating capacity brought online in the US in 2015, a new report has revealed.

The report, the latest Energy Infrastructure Update from FERC, shows that wind energy was the major single contributor to new capacity in the first nine months of the year, accounting for 2,966 megawatts (MW) of the total 7,276 MW of new capacity – or more than 40 per cent – and beating out gas.

Solar power followed with 1,137MW, biomass with 205MW, geothermal energy with 45MW, and hydropower with 27MW. Gas, meanwhile, contributed 2,884MW.

FERC reported no new capacity for the year-to-date from nuclear power and just 9MW from oil and 3MW from coal.

Thus, new capacity from renewable energy sources during the first three-quarters of 2015 is 1,460 times greater than that from coal while new capacity from wind alone exceeds that from natural gas.